BTN Newsbreak 20/06/2025

Australia Broadcast Center

8 hours ago

AGE VERIFICATION SOFTWARE
With the social media ban for Aussie teens kicking off in December, some people are worried about whether the age-checking tech for it isn't up to scratch. These students are just some of the thousands of teens across Australia who have been testing out facial scanning tech in the lead up to the social media ban which is all about protecting kids from accessing harmful content online. But so far the results been not that accurate. See from this December, more than 20 million Aussies will need to prove that they're over 16 years old if they want to log on to some of the big social media platforms. Which is why the government has been trialling out some age verification technology. See in recent trials, the tech could only guess people's ages within an 18 month range 85% of the time. While some experts say trialling this tech is a step in the right direction. Others say it's a sign that a flat out ban isn't great. But for now, there's still a bit of work that needs to be done.
SPACEX EXPLOSION
Things haven't exactly gone to plan in SpaceX's latest test launch. The spacecraft was preparing for its 10th test flight when it ran into a major anomaly, bit of an understatement. Don't worry, no one was inside the rocket, but eventually Space X's plan IS to have people in rockets like this one and send them to Mars by 2028. But they might have a few issues to overcome first.
ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
Have you ever wanted to talk to animals? Well a new competition is offering scientists 10 million dollars if they can do, well, just that.
COW CUDDLES
First up, to a farm in England that is offering visitors the chance to cuddle with a cow. This used to be a dairy farm, but due to crop shortages and the high cost of milk production, they decided to pivot to something a little different. It took more than a year to train the cows, getting them used to being cuddled, but now, they seem to really enjoy it.
HIKING ROBOT
Now to Mount Tai in China, which has welcomed its very first robotic hiking guide. This is its first time being tested out in the real world, after 2 months of development, and it seems to be handling everything pretty well so far.
OLDEST MARRIED COUPLE
And finally, to Newcastle where Delma, who's 100, and Frank, who's 101 are celebrating 80 years of wedded bliss, making them the oldest married couple in all of Australia!